Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons
In April 2019, soldiers guarded a military tank against protesters in Khartoum, capital of Sudan.
By Amelia Luo ’23
Global Editor
Sudanese advocates for democracy launched two civil disobedience strikes on Nov. 7, 2021, according to CNN. The protests are advocating for the end of military government and the transition to civilian rule. The civil disobedience was deterred with tear gas and arrests in an attempt to discourage the demonstrators, as reported by Al-Jazeera.
Attempting to interrupt the protests, the military coup has suspended internet access since Oct. 25. Phone connections are also constantly unstable within the Sudanese region. This interruption to internet access affected organizers’ ability to spread the word about the ongoing protest. The rally, however, was still carried out in several cities, including Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, as well as in Medani, Nyala and Atbara. Before and after the Oct. 25 coup, hundreds of thousands of people marched to demonstrate their objection against military rule. Desiring a full civilian-controlled government, the protestors rallied with the slogan “No negotiation, no partnership, no compromise,” according to CNN.
The civil disobedience strike and other protests are a response to the military coup in Sudan. On Oct. 25, the military leader of Sudan, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, came into power by arresting the current Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok. The military also opened fire on civilian demonstrators, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 140, according to The New York Times.
Before this military coup, the civilian and the military leaders of Sudan had been sharing power for more than two years, right after the 2019 insurrection against Omar al-Bashir took place. Sohail Hashmi, chair of the international relations department of Mount Holyoke, commented, “Sudan’s military never relinquished power after they ousted Bashir, but [the] true civilian government seemed to be making headway. Now, we are probably going to see play out a familiar process: the military has declared it will be in power only temporarily. They will make a show of ‘restoring’ democracy by promising elections, but when elections are ultimately held, they will be for show only and a former general will be ‘elected’ as the leader.”
In April 2019, the Sudanese Professionals Association and other resistance groups launched protests against then-president Omar al-Bashir. Bashir is a dictator who has been charged with war crimes and genocide by the International Criminal Court, and wanted for years. Although initially promising to gradually transition the government power back to civilian rule, the military force broke the shared power scheme and declared its leadership. In a news conference, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared, “This is a new Sudan, we call on everybody to come together to develop and build the country,” The New York Times reported.
Hashmi argued, “the military coup in Sudan may be remembered as the nail in the coffin of the ‘Arab Spring.’ Sudan was a latecomer to the Arab revolts. By the time popular pressure led the military to depose longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019, most Arab countries that had undergone uprisings during the Arab Spring had reverted to dictatorship.” Connecting the current situation in Sudan with recent events in Sudan’s neighboring country, Tunisia, Hashmi suggested that “Sudan’s move toward democracy, along with Tunisia’s consolidation of electoral politics, were the two success stories. Tunisia’s democratic experiment was derailed by a military coup in July of this year. Now we have the coup in Sudan.”
Kayla Olds ’23, an international relations major, commented on this issue. “I think the protests happening in Sudan are interesting because they demonstrate the power of the people. In 2019, the military was forced to share power with civilian leaders due to civilian resistance,” Olds said. “I hope that a similar shift of power occurs this time where the coup is stopped by the civilian leaders [who] gain full control of the military [and go] back to sharing power.”
After an emergency session on Nov. 5, The United Nations Rights Panel declared that, in an attempt to pressure Sudan to restore civilian rule, it is sending an independent expert to Sudan to observe and report abuses. As reported by The New York Times, the Panel condemned the military takeover that happened on Oct. 25 and advocated for the immediate release of the Sudanese Prime Minister, who was under house arrest by the military.